Out of curiosity, I was just wondering if any of you know what waveform would I get if I were to plug in an oscilloscope in Canadian 3 pin outlet in the following scenarios:
1. Live and Neutral
2. Live and Ground
3. Neutral and Ground
Live input is 120 V AC at 60 Hz sinusoidal. The Canadian 3 pin socket is same as the North American 3 pin socket.
I am pretty sure that for case 2 live and ground, I will just get a continuous sine wave with 120 V amplitude or 240 V peak to peak. The period will be 1/60 s. Feel free to add your suggestions!
It is sad that even though studying in Electrical Engineering program, neither me nor my fellow students are able to answer the question my electrician asked us!!!
Thanks a lot in advance.
Update:Thanks billruss... I am in year 2, but haven't used ocsilloscope a lot. Just used it two times to measure digital logic signals in a bread board circuit. Plus, I am unaware of all power distribution theory. Thank you for the answer.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
First of all, scopes have the common lead grounded, so if you float that common lead, you run the risk of killing yourself.
You can use two scope probes if you scope can be configured for differential input. This is needed for (1). The other two (2.3) are measured to ground, so just poke (carefully) the probe tip into hot or neutral, leaving the ground clip not connected.
1. you would see 120 volts RMS, about 164 volts peak or 330 volts P-P at 60 Hz, period 16 ms.
2. same as 1
3. you would see an AC voltage anywhere between zero and 5 volts RMS, depending on the current the neutral is carrying at that point, and the wire size and length.
What year are you in in EE? I really hope first year.